It’s official! Chrysler is no longer leasing cars to the general public. Am I surprised? Not really, their lease rates have been notoriously horrendous because they offer the worse  MF/RV combination you could possibly hope for. Chrysler has relied heavily on cash rebates to move their cars, which explains why they don’t finance leases too well.  I suspect the main reason for this move is due to Chrysler’s inability to resale their lease returns since they make such poor cars. For those who still want to lease Chryslers, you can lease them through private lenders such as Leasecompare.com. At times, they even have better rates than the manufacturer’s captive bank.

Here is a brief insert of the article from Yahoo News.

“DETROIT – Chrysler LLC said Friday its financial arm will get out of the auto leasing business by the end of the month because economic conditions have made leasing more expensive than buying, for both consumers and the company.

The move comes as Chrysler Financial is in the process of renewing a $30 billion credit line with banks amid a startling drop in values for leased trucks and sport utility vehicles that are coming back to automakers as leases end.”

Leasing isn’t supposed to be more expensive than buying. Unfortunately, that is the case with in Chrysler and their horrible rates. What really worries me about the entire thing is that due to the economy, automakers will probably make leasing more expensive, forcing us to buy their vehicles. I hope this is not a trend-setting move by Chrysler because it would spell bad news for those of us that enjoy leasing cars.